


No such thing as heroes (but if there were...)

by aelangreenleaf



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, I love a tragic hero, loosely based on The Departed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:47:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25863817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aelangreenleaf/pseuds/aelangreenleaf
Summary: Sergeant Jon Snow doesn’t quite know what to make of Detective Jaime Lannister.He’s heard the stories, of course. No one makes it more than two weeks into the Academy without hearing whispers about that detective, the one who shot Aerys Targaryen in a personal coke deal that went really fucking wrong. The detective that still, despite that major fuck-up-slash-victory, is a member in good standing of the King’s Landing police force, and still swans about headquarters as if he shits gold (which, given his father’s lucrative and extremely dubious business dealings, he probably does).------Loosely based on the film The Departed.
Relationships: Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	No such thing as heroes (but if there were...)

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this in my drafts for months, and decided to pull the trigger. Approx. 4 more chapters to come.

Sergeant Jon Snow doesn’t quite know what to make of Detective Jaime Lannister.

He’s heard the stories, of course. No one makes it more than two weeks into the Academy without hearing whispers about _that_ detective, the one who shot Aerys Targaryen in a personal coke deal that went _really_ fucking wrong. The detective that still, despite that major fuck-up-slash-victory, is a member in good standing of the King’s Landing police force, and still swans about headquarters as if he shits gold (which, given his father’s lucrative and extremely dubious business dealings, he probably does).

His uncle had had Jon quietly pulled from his previous desk job in the Major Crimes division just a week earlier, and reassigned him to his personal Special Investigations Unit team. His uncle hadn’t told him much about this team yet, except that it was just himself, his uncle, and another young sergeant named Sam Tarly who had been working with Uncle Ned – _Captain Stark_ – for the past year. All his uncle had told him was to stay quiet about their work and to not ever discuss a word to anyone else of what happened behind SIU’s shuttered windows and closed doors.

Detective Lannister’s voice, like a sly cat toying with its prey, cuts into his thoughts, and Jon mentally rebukes himself for losing focus.

“…and so I asked myself, what does the honorable, respectable Ned Stark want with a sullied little detective like me?” asks Jaime Lannister, his smile as warm and inviting as a cold knife in a dark alley.

Captain Ned Stark stares at the detective for a long moment before tipping his head to the side, considering. “Why do you think I asked you to come, Detective?”

Lannister barks a sharp burst of laughter, locking eyes with the Captain. “Who knows? Maybe there are some whispers of detectives down in Homicide embezzling precinct funds, maybe you’ve heard there might be drugs going missing from evidence lockers, maybe you’ve heard there might be a Baratheon mole down in our ranks,” he says, leaning in towards the captain’s desk, his eyes dancing. “Maybe you figured it would be easiest just to bring me in, start off quick with the likeliest suspect, no matter the crime.”

“You seem to think we all think very poorly of you, Detective. What an interesting theory.”

The detective scoffs a bit at that, pushing his body back firmly into the chair. “Not so much a theory as reality, is it Captain? Just ask Aerys Targaryen’s corpse if you need confirmation.”

Jon has to suppress his shock at how baldly Lannister confirms it, keeping his gasp from escaping his lips. His uncle has told him a thousand times to control his emotions, to stay calm and cool and unflappable.

Captain Stark chuckles softly to himself, not unkindly. “How long has it been, Lannister? Ten years since you shot him? You were a young, fresh detective then – I remember. I remember how you excelled in the Academy, rose up through the ranks quickly. I remember how some other officers muttered that your daddy must have paid them off,” he states, and Lannister scowls for an instant at that, before that same sharp smile falls back into place.

“So strange that you fell into drugs so quickly once you made it into the force – so lucky that you were in that club in Flea Bottom buying cocaine off your dealer when Aerys Targaryen walked in, weren’t you?”

Jamie Lannister’s smile is gone now, his mouth a straight, silent line.

“How fortunate for you, Detective, that you just _happened_ to be in that club scoring coke when Targaryen pulled out that bottle of wildfire and put a gun to Councillor Arryn’s head.”

Lannister seems lost for a moment, his face flashing for an instant with an expression of wary confusion, before the mask is back on and he laughs again. “Ah, well, Lannisters are known for our luck, aren’t we? My father certainly is lucky with his business deals; I must have inherited more than a bit of my share.” There is something is his eyes then, something almost like a lure, as if to say _take the bait, Stark._

But his uncle does not.

“We asked the High Septon to unseal your records, Lannister,” Ned Stark starts, and the detective’s face goes as white as a sheet. “I was a bit shocked that I had to go that high up, but your files were locked up more tightly than the Iron Bank’s vaults. All these years, Lannister…” and Jon is surprised to see sympathy in his uncle’s eyes.

Jaime Lannister smiles again, but the knife’s edge is gone, and Jon thinks for a moment how tired he looks, how weary he seems. “You know what it’s like, Stark, more than most.”

His uncle nods. “I do. I do, and I need you to do it again. For me.”

Jaime Lannister closes his eyes.

“You were the best undercover agent my old Captain had ever seen, son. We all bought it – rich kid ostracized from his family, goes into the police force as a fuck you to his old man, and falls back into bad habits right away. Doing drug deals at night, taking dirty money from Targaryen lackeys – it was what we _expected_ from a spoiled rich kid like you.”

“I know,” says Lannister, blinking his eyes wide again. He laughs again, softly. “It’s what Captain Dayne told me they would all think. He told me everyone would see what they wanted to see.”

“And so when Aerys Targaryen walked into that club, you knew he’d be there. You knew what he was planning. You stopped him, and you saved a thousand lives.”

Detective Lannister chuckles again, more harshly this time. “I didn’t know he had wildfire. I thought he wanted to kill Councillor Arryn for going back on a political deal, I didn’t realize he had wildfire until it was nearly too late… I didn’t _want_ to kill him.”

“You’re… you’re a hero,” says Jon softly, realizing far too late that he is speaking out loud.

His uncle and Lannister’s eyes all snap over to him, as if only remembering now that he was in the room. “No such thing as a hero, kid. Not here, not in this city. The best you can hope for is a cop that won’t shoot you if you try to run,” replies Lannister, his eyes boring down into his own.

His uncle looks back at the detective. “Your cousin Cersei – apparently she’s Robert Baratheon’s latest plaything, and she’s very involved with their ‘business dealings’ higher up. We’ve heard rumours from some of our sources in the Baratheon organization that he’s made a deal with Aerys’ delusional son Viserys, and we’ve heard the deal might involve wildfire.”

“Gods…”

His uncle continues, undeterred. “Listen, Lannister: I know you’ve given far more than most to this police force. I know that you’ve walked around this city for the past ten years labelled a traitor and a monster and I can’t imagine what that is like. But we might have a chance here to get in before this shit all explodes – we might have a chance to stop this bloodbath before it starts, but I can’t do it without you. Will you help me?”

Detective Jaime Lannister closes his eyes for a moment, silence dropping heavy between them all. Jon wonders what is going through his mind, what he must be thinking. Jon thinks to himself: _could I do it twice? Could I become something horrible to do something good?_

Jaime Lannister opens his eyes.

“What do I need to do?”

* * *

_KLTV Breaking News: Detective Jaime Lannister has been found guilty of two counts of assault and two counts of possession with intent to traffic illegal substances. At a closed hearing today the High Septon ruled that Detective Lannister be removed from the KLPD force effective immediately and sentenced to 16 months in Harrenhal High Security Prison. As Chief Commissioner Barristan Selmy remarked wryly after the ruling: “Apparently a leopard – or_ lion – _really can’t change his spots.”_

_Up next: Socialite Daenerys Targaryen breaks up with music mogul Khal Drogo – what’s next for this King’s Landing princess?_


End file.
